The U.S. rig count continued to surge above year-ago levels last week after drillers added more than two dozen rigs.
According to Baker Hughes, the number of oil and gas rigs operating in the United States rose by 35 to 694 rigs last week compared to 637 rigs a year ago.
The U.S. oil rig count jumped to 551 rigs after a 29 rig gain, up from 510 rigs a year ago.
A six rig gain pushed the natural gas rig count up to 142 rigs last week compared to 127 rigs in the year-ago period.
The directional rig count hit the year-ago level last week after a one rig pushed the count up to 60 rigs.
The horizontal rig count jumped by 22 rigs to 559 rigs last year, up from 500 rigs a year ago.
The vertical rig count rose to 75 rigs last week after a 12 rig gain, just shy of the 77 rigs active a year ago.
Texas booked the largest rig gain of any major producing state last week with a 17 rig gain pushing the state’s rig count up to 342 rigs compared to 294 rigs a year ago.
Oklahoma’s rig count rose to 91 rigs after a seven rig gain, up from 87 rigs a year ago.
A three rig gain in North Dakota boosted the state’s rig count up to 35 rigs compared to 45 rigs last year.
Ohio’s rig count ticked up by two rigs to 21 rigs, up from 14 rigs a year ago.
A one rig gain in New Mexico brought the state’s rig count up to 38 rigs compared to 30 rigs last year.
Utah’s rig count rose to five rigs after a one rig gain, up from three rigs in the year-ago period.
West Virginia posted a one rig gain last week that boosted the state’s rig count up to nine rigs, down from 12 rigs a year ago.
Rig counts in Arkansas, Colorado and Wyoming held steady at above year-ago levels last week.
Rig counts in Alaska, California, Kansas and Louisiana were unchanged but were still shy of year-ago levels.
The Permian Basin’s rig count jumped to 281 rigs after a 13 rig gain last week, up from 199 rigs in the same period last year.
The Cana Woodford Basin saw its rig count rise by nine rigs to 46 rigs compared to 39 rigs a year ago.
The Utica Basin’s rig count ticked up by three rigs to 23 rigs, up from 14 rigs during the same period last year.
The Williston Basin’s rig count increased to 35 rigs last week after a three rig gain but was still down from 45 rigs a year ago.
The Haynesville and Marcellus basins each gained one rig last week and saw their rig count levels hold well above year ago-levels.
A one rig loss in the Gulf of Mexico pulled the area’s rig count down to 23 rigs compared to 29 rigs a year ago.
Canada’s rig count rose to 342 rigs compared to 250 rigs a year ago after gaining 23 oil rigs and five gas rigs but losing one miscellaneous rigs.
